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Seniors expected to take strong leadership roles on volleyball team

By Jan SchultzThe Imperial Republican It’s here—the start of the 2013 Chase County high school volleyball season. The Lady Longhorns open their season at home tonight (Thursday), hosting Haxtun, Colo., for games starting at 4 p.m. with the C teams, followed by JV and varsity action. The opening week’s a busy one, with the Lexington tournament this weekend on Saturday, and another match at home Tuesday, Sept. 10, against Wray, Colo. In Lexington Saturday, Chase County’s first match is against an SPVA foe, Hershey, at 9 a.m. MT in the east gym. They’ll meet either Lexington or Broken Bow next. CCS Coach Jodie Schuller said the players have a lot of positive goals for the season, and she is counting on a team that seems to have a lot of chemistry and trust. She’s also looking to the group of five seniors who she said has good leadership skills. Schuller said she saw that team chemistry building this summer at their volleyball camps. Lady Longhorn fans are going to see some changes on the court this season, Schuller said. They will see a faster offense, and a strong defense with a lot of stuffs and blocks. “Defensively, we’re going to be scrappy,” she said. Due to the loss of their longtime setter to graduation last spring, Bethany Sorensen, Schuller has opted to go to an offense which utilizes two setters. Sharing that setter’s role this season will be two of the seniors, Bridget Langin and Kaycee Bubak, Schuller said. “It’s been a smooth transition,” she said. “The girls are comfortable with it.” If some offensive trouble arises at a match, Schuller said it will be easy to switch over to the 5-1 offense if needed. Schuller also listed the other Lady Longhorns who will be seeing considerable playing time as the season opens. The team’s outside hitter positions will be filled by MaKenna Ketter, Kristen Jussel and Mindy Castle. Filling the middle hitting spots will be Paige Spady, Makala Bartels and Valeria Cervantes. Shelby Jaeger will start at the libero position. Several girls will also be using the jump float serve this season, she said. There isn’t much variation to the volleyball schedule this year. A C team quad in Holyoke, Colo., added on Oct. 7 is the only new date, she said. North Platte St. Pat’s will host the SPVA Conference Tournament Oct. 17 and 19, which will see a seventh team compete this year with Kimball’s addition to the conference. Schuller is counting on a lot of returning varsity experience, from last year’s 15-14 team, having lost just two seniors from the starting lineup. This year’s roster lists 26 girls, and Schuller said they have submitted a lot of season goals including a state berth, winning the conference and even an undefeated season. Here is the roster of the 2013 players listed by class.Seniors—Bridget Langin, Kaycee Bubak, Shelby Jaeger, Makala Bartels, Kristen Jussel.Juniors—Paige Spady, Mindy Castle, MaKenna Ketter, Makenna Wallin, Valeria Cervantes.Sophomores—Cheyanne Kuhlmann, Kym Rowley, Shaylee Dorn.Freshmen—Kadyn Milner, Abigail Almanza, Dawn Castle, Jasmine Dannar, Shaylee Heathers, Taylin McNair, Molly Luhrs, Mikaela O’Brien, Bridgette Odens, Jadin Bussell, Megan Engbrecht, Alexis Jensen, Kaylee Meeske.